The Maple Among the Snow
by Seize the Rain
Summary: Kaede Hara is just your average Soul Reaper. She wakes, she works, she sleeps. But when her sleepwalking habit becomes more frequent and she starts to have strange visions, she begins to wonder if she really is a Soul Reaper. ToshiroXOC


**Hello! Second uploaded fic, here! I am happy now. **

**This story originally was never finished, so I decided to rewrite it. I'll be posting in between chapters of my other fanfic, Twelve (it's from Fullmetal Alchemist, BTW). I've been lacking creative inspiration in that story, so here's another! This is actually the original version of the prologue because I decided not to rewrite it.**

**I highly suggest that you evacuate all younger siblings from the room, because this chapter is rather violent... It's rated T for violence, and some language, and just because I can. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, well... Aizen would have been dead a long time ago xD**

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><p>A lonely soul walked down the street, her foot passing through an empty pop can. She barely felt the rain pelting her soaked hoodie. She just wanted this to end. This eternal boredom caused by death. She wanted to pass on like all of the other souls, but she could never find the people. All of the rumours about the people cloaked in black who helped souls pass into the afterlife couldn't be true. She'd never seen one in all of the time she'd been dead.<p>

She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The only reason she walked around all the time was to find one of those people. According to the other souls, they sent you to a good place. But they just weren't there.

Suddenly, she felt claws dig into her shoulder. She screamed and turned around to see a masked beast. She'd seen them before, prowling the streets. She knew bad things would happen if she encountered one, so she ran. She felt like she'd never run faster in life or death. But the monster was faster. He caught up to her and seized her.

It licked its lips. "You look tasty." It's continuously grinning face scared the girl. It squeezed tighter and she screamed again. She felt like her insides were going to cave in because of the monster's grip.

"Oh, my. Making so much noise will only give me away! I'll have to shut you up." A clawed finger curled around her throat, cutting of any oxygen. The soul tried to call for help, but all that came out was a strangled noise. The monster threw her down the road, sending her into a series of bumps and flips. She gasped and coughed up blood.

The monster picked her up by the chain hanging from her chest and she screamed a third time. Pain seared through her chest like she'd been touched by a branding iron.

"That hurts, doesn't it?" the monster sneered. "You'll be going through a lot more before I get bored and eat you." It jerked her and the pain increased. The chain began to come loose from her chest. She screamed and cried, hoping someone would hear her.

"Shut up!" it roared and smashed her into a building. Her vision danced and swirled and she was tempted into unconsciousness. But she had to stay alive, even though she was already dead. She fell out of the gaping hole created by her smashing into it. Everything hurt. Even the raindrops caused her pain like drops of molten metal dripping onto her bare skin. The monster slashed one claw across her back and blood sprayed everywhere. He licked the blood off his fingers, enjoying the taste.

"Please... stop..." she begged, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Why? I like to play with my food. Tenderize it before I eat it." The beast smashed its large palm onto her back and pushed down. The soul felt several bones break and more blood spewed from her mouth. _When will this end?_ She thought in the little part of her mind that wasn't screaming with pain. She let her body go limp; trying to fool the beast into thinking she had died again. It only grunted and drew her into the air by her chain again, ripping it further out from her chest.

Then she fell along with the severed hand of the beast. It roared, clutching the bloody stump on its arm.

"What the hell was that?" It bellowed. It ripped its lost appendage from the soul's body and yanked on the chain again. That was when the soul went limp for real and fell once more. The beast's second hand had been sliced off and it was swinging its arms around, spraying black blood everywhere.

A flash of black whizzed by and cut off one leg, then the other. The monster fell forward, roaring in agony. It cursed at the thing that was cutting off its appendages. Finally, its mask was cut in half and it disappeared.

"Are you all right?" the Soul Reaper asked. But it was too late.

The chain on the soul's chest was no longer there.

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><p><strong>Sorry if this chapter was rather short. It's just how the prologue is. (it seemed longer in Microsoft Word OTL)<strong>

**So, what did you think? Please review! *pretty please* **


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